Beam training and initial access

ABSTRACT

The present application is at least directed to an apparatus. The apparatus includes a non-transitory memory including instructions stored thereon for beam link pairing the apparatus to a router in a new radio. The apparatus also includes a processor, operably coupled to the non-transitory memory, capable of executing the instructions of transmitting physical random access channel (PRACH) preambles through a set of uplink transmission beams in a subframe. The processor is also capable of executing the instructions of signaling a beam ID of the set of uplink transmission beams. The processor is further capable of executing the instructions of monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for a random access response (RAR) including a random access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI). The processor is even further capable of executing the instructions of determining the RA-RNTI corresponds to the transmitted PRACH preambles.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisionalapplication No. 62/475,744 filed Mar. 23, 2017, titled “SuperframeStructure and Operations in New Radio,” the contents of which isincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present application is directed to apparatuses and methods for beamtraining and initial access in new radio BACKGROUND

New radio (NR) is the next evolutionary step from 3G and 4G wirelessnetworks. At its core, NR intends to make wireless broadband performancesubstantially similar to that of wirelines. NR is also working onefficiently connecting Internet of Things (IoT) devices for reliable andsafe communications.

NR supports both low frequency NR (LF-NR), i.e., sub 6 GHz, and highfrequency NR (HF-NR), i.e., above 6 GHz deployment. In LF-NR, a singlewider beam may be sufficient for coverage. To the contrary, a singlewider beam may be insufficient for coverage in HF-NR. This is attributedto significant attenuation at very high frequency. As a result, multiplenarrow beams are preferred for enhancing coverage in HF-NR.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to limit the scope of theclaimed subject matter.

One aspect of the disclosure is directed to an apparatus in new radio.The apparatus includes a non-transitory memory including instructionsstored thereon for beam link pairing the apparatus to a router in thenew radio. The apparatus also includes a processor, operably coupled tothe non-transitory memory, capable of executing the instructions oftransmitting physical random access channel (PRACH) preambles through aset of uplink transmission beams in a subframe. The processor is alsocapable of executing the instructions of signaling a beam ID of the setof uplink transmission beams. The processor is further capable ofexecuting the instructions of monitoring a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) for a random access response (RAR) including a randomaccess radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI). The processor iseven further capable of executing the instructions of determining theRA-RNTI corresponds to the transmitted PRACH preambles.

Another aspect of the disclosure is directed to an apparatus. Theapparatus includes a non-transitory memory including instructions storedthereon for beam link adjustments in the new radio. The apparatus alsoincludes a processor, operably coupled to the non-transitory memory,capable of executing the instructions of detecting downlink transmissionbeams transmitted from gNB. The processor is also capable of executingthe instructions of performing downlink measurements for the detecteddownlink transmission beam. The processor is further capable ofexecuting the instructions of selecting a first downlink transmissionbeam based on the measurement. The processor is even further capable ofexecuting the instructions of calculating a downlink path loss using adownlink reference signal of the first downlink transmission beam. Theprocessor is even further capable of executing the instructions ofestimating an initial uplink transmit power based on the calculateddownlink path loss. Still further, the processor is capable of executingthe instructions of transmitting, to the gNB, an indication of the firstdownlink transmission beam with the estimated initial uplink transmitpower.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure is directed to an apparatus in newradio. The apparatus includes a non-transitory memory includinginstructions stored thereon for beam link adjustments in the new radio.The apparatus also includes a processor, operably coupled to thenon-transitory memory, capable of executing the instructions of sending,to a gNB, uplink transmission beams via uplink transmission beamsweeping with an initial uplink transmit power. The processor is alsocapable of executing the instructions of receiving, from the gNB, anindication of a first uplink transmission beam from the sent uplinktransmission beams, and an uplink path loss or uplink transmit poweradjustment information. The processor is further capable of executingthe instructions of calculating a beam pair link gain difference basedon a downlink path loss and the received uplink path loss or uplinktransmit power adjustment information. The processor is even furthercapable of executing the instructions of adjusting the initial uplinktransmit power based upon the calculation.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof may be betterunderstood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may bebetter appreciated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a more robust understanding of the application,reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which likeelements are referenced with like numerals. These drawings should not beconstrued to limit the application and are intended only to beillustrative.

FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary communications system according to anembodiment of the application.

FIG. 1B illustrates an exemplary apparatus configured for wirelesscommunication according to an embodiment of the application.

FIG. 1C illustrates a system diagram of a radio access network and acore network according to an embodiment of the application.

FIG. 1D illustrates a system diagram of a radio access network and acore network according to another embodiment of the application.

FIG. 1E illustrates a system diagram of a radio access network and acore network according to yet another embodiment of the application.

FIG. 1F illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computing system incommunication with one or more networks previously shown in FIGS. 1A,1C, 1D and 1E according to an embodiment of the application.

FIG. 2 illustrates cell coverage with sector beams and multiple,high-gain narrow beams.

FIG. 3 illustrates a LTE frame structure with a primary synchronoussequence (PSS), a secondary synchronous sequence (SSS), and physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) allocations.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of cell and sector sweeping.

FIGS. 5A and 5B respectively illustrate NR systems supporting single andmulti-beam systems.

FIG. 6 illustrates a user equipment uplink (UL) channel to perform beamsweeping and downlink (DL) transmission beam feedback linked to acquirea SS block in the FDD frame structure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a user equipment UL channel to perform beam sweepingand DL transmission beam feedback linked to the acquired SS block in aflexible frame structure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a configured CSI-RS that can be used for BPL.

FIG. 9 illustrates an estimation of a beam pair link gain difference.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate an estimation of a beam pair link gaindifference during downlink beam training or pairing.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate an estimation of a beam pair link gaindifference during uplink beam training or pairing.

FIG. 12 illustrates a graphical user interface for a beam pair linkmeasurement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

A detailed description of the illustrative embodiment will be discussedin reference to various figures, embodiments and aspects herein.Although this description provides detailed examples of possibleimplementations, it should be understood that the details are intendedto be examples and thus do not limit the scope of the application.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,”“one or more embodiments,” “an aspect” or the like means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of thedisclosure. Moreover, the term “embodiment” in various places in thespecification is not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Thatis, various features are described which may be exhibited by someembodiments and not by the other.

In an aspect of the disclosure, user equipment (UE) procedures for beamlink pairing at initial access are described.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure, in relation to UEs in a connectedstate, describes multiple sets of channel state information referencesignals (CSI-RSs) allocated and configured to perform beam paringoperations by an UE.

Definitions and Acronyms

Provided below are definitions for terms and phrases commonly used inthis application in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Acronym Term or Phrase A/N Ack/Nack BRS Beam Reference Signal CEControl Element CQI Channel Quality Indicator DL Downlink DRXDiscontinuous Reception eMBB enhanced Mobile Broadband ETWS Earthquakeand Tsunami Warning System HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request KPI KeyPerformance Indicators LTE Long Term Evolution MAC Medium Access ControlMIB Master Information Block mMTC massive Machine Type CommunicationNACK Non-ACKnowledgement NR New Radio PBCH Physical Broadcast ChannelPDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDSCH Physical Downlink SharedData Channel PRACH Physical Random Access Channel PRB Physical ResourceBlock RAN Radio Access Network RNTI Radio Network Temporary IdentifierP-RNTI Paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier RRC Radio ResourceControl RSRP Reference Signal Received Power RSSI Received SignalStrength Indicator SI System Information SIB System Information BlockTDD Time Division Duplex TPC Transmit Power Control UE User Equipment ULUplink URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications

General Architecture

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) develops technicalstandards for cellular telecommunications network technologies,including radio access, the core transport network, and servicecapabilities—including work on codecs, security, and quality of service.Recent radio access technology (RAT) standards include WCDMA (commonlyreferred as 3G), LTE (commonly referred as 4G), and LTE-Advancedstandards. 3GPP has begun working on the standardization of nextgeneration cellular technology, called NR, which is also referred to as“5G”. 3GPP NR standards development is expected to include thedefinition of next generation radio access technology (new RAT), whichis expected to include the provision of new flexible radio access below6 GHz, and the provision of new ultra-mobile broadband radio accessabove 6 GHz. The flexible radio access is expected to include a new,non-backwards compatible radio access in new spectrum below 6 GHz, andit is expected to include different operating modes that can bemultiplexed together in the same spectrum to address a broad set of 3GPPNR use cases with diverging requirements. The ultra-mobile broadband isexpected to include cmWave and mmWave spectrum that will provide theopportunity for ultra-mobile broadband access for, e.g., indoorapplications and hotspots. In particular, the ultra-mobile broadband isexpected to share a common design framework with the flexible radioaccess below 6 GHz, with cmWave and mmWave specific designoptimizations.

3GPP has identified a variety of use cases that NR is expected tosupport, resulting in a wide variety of user experience requirements fordata rate, latency, and mobility. The use cases include the followinggeneral categories: enhanced mobile broadband (e.g., broadband access indense areas, indoor ultra-high broadband access, broadband access in acrowd, 50+ Mbps everywhere, ultra-low cost broadband access, mobilebroadband in vehicles), critical communications, massive machine typecommunications, network operation (e.g., network slicing, routing,migration and interworking, energy savings), and enhancedvehicle-to-everything (eV2X) communications. Specific service andapplications in these categories include, e.g., monitoring and sensornetworks, device remote controlling, bi-directional remote controlling,personal cloud computing, video streaming, wireless cloud-based office,first responder connectivity, automotive ecall, disaster alerts,real-time gaming, multi-person video calls, autonomous driving,augmented reality, tactile internet, and virtual reality to name a few.All of these use cases and others are contemplated herein.

FIG. 1A illustrates one embodiment of an example communications system100 in which the methods and apparatuses described and claimed hereinmay be embodied. As shown, the example communications system 100 mayinclude wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102 a, 102 b, 102 c,and/or 102 d (which generally or collectively may be referred to as WTRU102), a radio access network (RAN) 103/104/105/103 b/104 b/105 b, a corenetwork 106/107/109, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, theInternet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated thatthe disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, basestations, networks, and/or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102 a,102 b, 102 c, 102 d, 102 e may be any type of apparatus or deviceconfigured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment.Although each WTRU 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d, 102 e is depicted inFIGS. 1A-E as a hand-held wireless communications apparatus, it isunderstood that with the wide variety of use cases contemplated for 5Gwireless communications, each WTRU may comprise or be embodied in anytype of apparatus or device configured to transmit and/or receivewireless signals, including, by way of example only, user equipment(UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, acellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, alaptop, a tablet, a netbook, a notebook computer, a personal computer, awireless sensor, consumer electronics, a wearable device such as a smartwatch or smart clothing, a medical or eHealth device, a robot,industrial equipment, a drone, a vehicle such as a car, truck, train, orairplane, and the like.

The communications system 100 may also include a base station 114 a anda base station 114 b. Base stations 114 a may be any type of deviceconfigured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102 a,102 b, 102 c to facilitate access to one or more communication networks,such as the core network 106/107/109, the Internet 110, and/or the othernetworks 112. Base stations 114 b may be any type of device configuredto wiredly and/or wirelessly interface with at least one of the RRHs(Remote Radio Heads) 118 a, 118 b and/or TRPs (Transmission andReception Points) 119 a, 119 b to facilitate access to one or morecommunication networks, such as the core network 106/107/109, theInternet 110, and/or the other networks 112. RRHs 118 a, 118 b may beany type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least oneof the WTRU 102 c, to facilitate access to one or more communicationnetworks, such as the core network 106/107/109, the Internet 110, and/orthe other networks 112. TRPs 119 a, 119 b may be any type of deviceconfigured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRU 102 d,to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as thecore network 106/107/109, the Internet 110, and/or the other networks112. By way of example, the base stations 114 a, 114 b may be a basetransceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a HomeeNode B, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, andthe like. While the base stations 114 a, 114 b are each depicted as asingle element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114 a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and/or networkelements.

The base station 114 a may be part of the RAN 103/104/105, which mayalso include other base stations and/or network elements (not shown),such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller(RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114 b may be part of the RAN103 b/104b/105 b, which may also include other base stations and/ornetwork elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), aradio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114 amay be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within aparticular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell (notshown). The base station 114 b may be configured to transmit and/orreceive wired and/or wireless signals within a particular geographicregion, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). The cell mayfurther be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associatedwith the base station 114 a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, inan embodiment, the base station 114 a may include three transceivers,e.g., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the basestation 114 a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO)technology and, therefore, may utilize multiple transceivers for eachsector of the cell.

The base stations 114 a may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs102 a, 102 b, 102 c over an air interface 115/116/117, which may be anysuitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF),microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, cmWave,mmWave, etc.). The air interface 115/116/117 may be established usingany suitable radio access technology (RAT).

The base stations 114 b may communicate with one or more of the RRHs 118a, 118 b and/or TRPs 119 a, 119 b over a wired or air interface 115b/116 b/117 b, which may be any suitable wired (e.g., cable, opticalfiber, etc.) or wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF),microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, cmWave,mmWave, etc.). The air interface 115 b/116 b/117 b may be establishedusing any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

The RRHs 118 a, 118 b and/or TRPs 119 a, 119 b may communicate with oneor more of the WTRUs 102 c, 102 d over an air interface 115 c/116 c/117c, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radiofrequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visiblelight, cmWave, mmWave, etc.). The air interface 115 c/116 c/117 c may beestablished using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may bea multiple access system and may employ one or more channel accessschemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. Forexample, the base station 114 a in the RAN 103/104/105 and the WTRUs 102a, 102 b, 102 c, or RRHs 118 a, 118 b and TRPs 119 a, 119 b in the RAN103 b/104 b/105 b and the WTRUs 102 c, 102 d, may implement a radiotechnology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface115/116/117 or 115 c/116 c/117 c respectively using wideband CDMA(WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-SpeedPacket Access (HSPA) and/or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may includeHigh-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and/or High-Speed UplinkPacket Access (HSUPA).

In an embodiment, the base station 114 a and the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102c, or RRHs 118 a, 118 b and TRPs 119 a, 119 b in the RAN 103 b/104 b/105b and the WTRUs 102 c, 102 d, may implement a radio technology such asEvolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish theair interface 115/116/117 or 115 c/116 c/117 c respectively using LongTerm Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A). In the future, the airinterface 115/116/117 may implement 3GPP NR technology.

In an embodiment, the base station 114 a in the RAN 103/104/105 and theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, or RRHs 118 a, 118 b and TRPs 119 a, 119 b inthe RAN 103 b/104 b/105 b and the WTRUs 102 c, 102 d, may implementradio technologies such as IEEE 802.16 (e.g., Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1×, CDMA2000 EV-DO,Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), InterimStandard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM),Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and thelike.

The base station 114 c in FIG. 1A may be a wireless router, Home Node B,Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitableRAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such asa place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, and the like. In anembodiment, the base station 114 c and the WTRUs 102 e, may implement aradio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114 c and the WTRUs102 d, may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establisha wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet an embodiment, the basestation 114 c and the WTRUs 102 e, may utilize a cellular-based RAT(e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, etc.) to establish a picocellor femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114 b may have adirect connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114 c maynot be required to access the Internet 110 via the core network106/107/109.

The RAN 103/104/105 and/or RAN 103 b/104 b/105 b may be in communicationwith the core network 106/107/109, which may be any type of networkconfigured to provide voice, data, applications, and/or voice overinternet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102 a, 102b, 102 c, 102 d. For example, the core network 106/107/109 may providecall control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paidcalling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and/or performhigh-level security functions, such as user authentication.

Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN103/104/105 and/or RAN 103 b/104 b/105 b and/or the core network106/107/109 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANsthat employ the same RAT as the RAN 103/104/105 and/or RAN 103 b/104b/105 b or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connectedto the RAN 103/104/105 and/or RAN 103 b/104 b/105 b, which may beutilizing an E-UTRA radio technology, the core network 106/107/109 mayalso be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSMradio technology.

The core network 106/107/109 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d, 102 e to access the PSTN 108, the Internet110, and/or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may includecircuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephoneservice (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system ofinterconnected computer networks and devices that use commoncommunication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol(TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and the internet protocol (IP) inthe TCP/IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wiredor wireless communications networks owned and/or operated by otherservice providers. For example, the networks 112 may include anothercore network connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the sameRAT as the RAN 103/104/105 and/or RAN 103 b/104 b/105 b or a differentRAT.

Some or all of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d in thecommunications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities, e.g., theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d, and 102 e may include multipletransceivers for communicating with different wireless networks overdifferent wireless links. For example, the WTRU 102 e shown in FIG. 1Amay be configured to communicate with the base station 114 a, which mayemploy a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114c, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an example apparatus or device configuredfor wireless communications in accordance with the embodimentsillustrated herein, such as for example, a WTRU 102. As shown in FIG.1B, the example WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120,a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126,a display/touchpad/indicators 128, non-removable memory 130, removablememory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS)chipset 136, and other peripherals 138. It will be appreciated that theWTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements whileremaining consistent with an embodiment. Also, embodiments contemplatethat the base stations 114 a and 114 b, and/or the nodes that basestations 114 a and 114 b may represent, such as but not limited totransceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, a site controller, an access point(AP), a home node-B, an evolved home node-B (eNodeB), a home evolvednode-B (HeNB), a home evolved node-B gateway, and proxy nodes, amongothers, may include some or all of the elements depicted in FIG. 1B anddescribed herein.

The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purposeprocessor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), aplurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in associationwith a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs)circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine,and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, dataprocessing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any otherfunctionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wirelessenvironment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120,which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. 1Bdepicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separatecomponents, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and thetransceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package orchip.

The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signalsto, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 115/116/117. For example, in an embodiment,the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured totransmit and/or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, thetransmit/receive Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciatedthat the RAN 103/104/105 and/or the core network 106/107/109 may be indirect or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the sameRAT as the RAN 103/104/105 or a different RAT. For example, in additionto being connected to the RAN 103/104/105, which may be utilizing anE-UTRA radio technology, the core network 106/107/109 may also be incommunication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM radiotechnology.

The core network 106/107/109 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110,and/or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switchedtelephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). TheInternet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computernetworks and devices that use common communication protocols, such asthe transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP)and the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite.The networks 112 may include wired or wireless communications networksowned and/or operated by other service providers. For example, thenetworks 112 may include another core network connected to one or moreRANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 103/104/105 or adifferent RAT.

Some or all of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d in thecommunications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities, e.g., theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, and 102 d may include multiple transceiversfor communicating with different wireless networks over differentwireless links. For example, the WTRU 102 c shown in FIG. 1A may beconfigured to communicate with the base station 114 a, which may employa cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114 b,which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an example apparatus or device configuredfor wireless communications in accordance with the embodimentsillustrated herein, such as for example, a WTRU 102. As shown in FIG.1B, the example WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120,a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126,a display/touchpad/indicators 128, non-removable memory 130, removablememory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS)chipset 136, and other peripherals 138. It will be appreciated that theWTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements whileremaining consistent with an embodiment. Also, embodiments contemplatethat the base stations 114 a and 114 b, and/or the nodes that basestations 114 a and 114 b may represent, such as but not limited totransceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, a site controller, an access point(AP), a home node-B, an evolved home node-B (eNodeB), a home evolvednode-B (HeNB), a home evolved node-B gateway, and proxy nodes, amongothers, may include some or all of the elements depicted in FIG. 1B anddescribed herein.

The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purposeprocessor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), aplurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in associationwith a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs)circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine,and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, dataprocessing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any otherfunctionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wirelessenvironment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120,which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. 1Bdepicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separatecomponents, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and thetransceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package orchip.

The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signalsto, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 115/116/117. For example, in an embodiment,the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured totransmit and/or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, thetransmit/receive element 122 may be an emitter/detector configured totransmit and/or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example.In yet an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configuredto transmit and receive both RF and light signals. It will beappreciated that the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured totransmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

In addition, although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted inFIG. 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number oftransmit/receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 mayemploy MIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may includetwo or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) fortransmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface115/116/117.

The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that areto be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and to demodulatethe signals that are received by the transmit/receive element 122. Asnoted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, thetransceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as UTRA and IEEE 802.11, forexample.

The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receiveuser input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/orthe display/touchpad/indicators 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display(LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit).The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad/indicators 128. Inaddition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store datain, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130and/or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 mayinclude random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk,or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 mayinclude a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, asecure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In an embodiment, theprocessor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memorythat is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or ahome computer (not shown).

The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and maybe configured to distribute and/or control the power to the othercomponents in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitabledevice for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 mayinclude one or more dry cell batteries, solar cells, fuel cells, and thelike.

The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which maybe configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude andlatitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In additionto, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU102 may receive location information over the air interface 115/116/117from a base station (e.g., base stations 114 a, 114 b) and/or determineits location based on the timing of the signals being received from twoor more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102may acquire location information by way of any suitablelocation-determination method while remaining consistent with anembodiment.

The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, whichmay include one or more software and/or hardware modules that provideadditional features, functionality and/or wired or wirelessconnectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include varioussensors such as an accelerometer, biometrics (e.g., finger print)sensors, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (forphotographs or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port or otherinterconnect interfaces, a vibration device, a television transceiver, ahands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM)radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game playermodule, an Internet browser, and the like.

The WTRU 102 may be embodied in other apparatuses or devices, such as asensor, consumer electronics, a wearable device such as a smart watch orsmart clothing, a medical or eHealth device, a robot, industrialequipment, a drone, a vehicle such as a car, truck, train, or airplane.The WTRU 102 may connect to other components, modules, or systems ofsuch apparatuses or devices via one or more interconnect interfaces,such as an interconnect interface that may comprise one of theperipherals 138.

FIG. 1C is a system diagram of the RAN 103 and the core network 106according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 103 may employ aUTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, and102 c over the air interface 115. The RAN 103 may also be incommunication with the core network 106. As shown in FIG. 1C, the RAN103 may include Node-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c, which may each include oneor more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102c over the air interface 115. The Node-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c may eachbe associated with a particular cell (not shown) within the RAN 103. TheRAN 103 may also include RNCs 142 a, 142 b. It will be appreciated thatthe RAN 103 may include any number of Node-Bs and RNCs while remainingconsistent with an embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the Node-Bs 140 a, 140 b may be in communicationwith the RNC 142 a. Additionally, the Node-B 140 c may be incommunication with the RNC 142 b. The Node-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c maycommunicate with the respective RNCs 142 a, 142 b via an Iub interface.The RNCs 142 a, 142 b may be in communication with one another via anIur interface. Each of the RNCs 142 a, 142 b may be configured tocontrol the respective Node-Bs 140 a, 140 b, 140 c to which it isconnected. In addition, each of the RNCs 142 a, 142 b may be configuredto carry out or support other functionality, such as outer loop powercontrol, load control, admission control, packet scheduling, handovercontrol, macro-diversity, security functions, data encryption, and thelike.

The core network 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a media gateway (MGW)144, a mobile switching center (MSC) 146, a serving GPRS support node(SGSN) 148, and/or a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 150. While each ofthe foregoing elements are depicted as part of the core network 106, itwill be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and/oroperated by an entity other than the core network operator.

The RNC 142 a in the RAN 103 may be connected to the MSC 146 in the corenetwork 106 via an IuCS interface. The MSC 146 may be connected to theMGW 144. The MSC 146 and the MGW 144 may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b,102 c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, tofacilitate communications between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c andtraditional land-line communications devices.

The RNC 142 a in the RAN 103 may also be connected to the SGSN 148 inthe core network 106 via an IuPS interface. The SGSN 148 may beconnected to the GGSN 150. The SGSN 148 and the GGSN 150 may provide theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c with access to packet-switched networks, suchas the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between and the WTRUs102 a, 102 b, 102 c and IP-enabled devices.

As noted above, the core network 106 may also be connected to thenetworks 112, which may include other wired or wireless networks thatare owned and/or operated by other service providers.

FIG. 1D is a system diagram of the RAN 104 and the core network 107according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ anE-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, and102 c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be incommunication with the core network 107.

The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160 a, 160 b, 160 c, though it will beappreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs whileremaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160 a, 160 b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment,the eNode-Bs 160 a, 160 b, 160 c may implement MIMO technology. Thus,the eNode-B 160 a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmitwireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102 a.

Each of the eNode-Bs 160 a, 160 b, and 160 c may be associated with aparticular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radioresource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of usersin the uplink and/or downlink, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1D, theeNode-Bs 160 a, 160 b, 160 c may communicate with one another over an X2interface.

The core network 107 shown in FIG. 1D may include a mobility managementgateway (MME) 162, a serving gateway 164, and a packet data network(PDN) gateway 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted aspart of the core network 107, it will be appreciated that any one ofthese elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than thecore network operator.

The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160 a, 160 b, and160 c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a controlnode. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticatingusers of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, bearer activation/deactivation,selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, and the like. The MME 162 may also provide acontrol plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs(not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM or WCDMA.

The serving gateway 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160 a,160 b, and 160 c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The servinggateway 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to/fromthe WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c. The serving gateway 164 may also performother functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode Bhandovers, triggering paging when downlink data is available for theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs102 a, 102 b, 102 c, and the like.

The serving gateway 164 may also be connected to the PDN gateway 166,which may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c with access topacket-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitatecommunications between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c and IP-enableddevices.

The core network 107 may facilitate communications with other networks.For example, the core network 107 may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b,102 c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, tofacilitate communications between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c andtraditional land-line communications devices. For example, the corenetwork 107 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g.,an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interfacebetween the core network 107 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the corenetwork 107 may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c with access to thenetworks 112, which may include other wired or wireless networks thatare owned and/or operated by other service providers.

FIG. 1E is a system diagram of the RAN 105 and the core network 109according to an embodiment. The RAN 105 may be an access service network(ASN) that employs IEEE 802.16 radio technology to communicate with theWTRUs 102 a, 102 b, and 102 c over the air interface 117. As will befurther discussed below, the communication links between the differentfunctional entities of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, the RAN 105, andthe core network 109 may be defined as reference points.

As shown in FIG. 1E, the RAN 105 may include base stations 180 a, 180 b,180 c, and an ASN gateway 182, though it will be appreciated that theRAN 105 may include any number of base stations and ASN gateways whileremaining consistent with an embodiment. The base stations 180 a, 180 b,180 c may each be associated with a particular cell in the RAN 105 andmay include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs102 a, 102 b, 102 c over the air interface 117. In an embodiment, thebase stations 180 a, 180 b, 180 c may implement MIMO technology. Thus,the base station 180 a, for example, may use multiple antennas totransmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, theWTRU 102 a. The base stations 180 a, 180 b, 180 c may also providemobility management functions, such as handoff triggering, tunnelestablishment, radio resource management, traffic classification,quality of service (QoS) policy enforcement, and the like. The ASNgateway 182 may serve as a traffic aggregation point and may beresponsible for paging, caching of subscriber profiles, routing to thecore network 109, and the like.

The air interface 117 between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c and the RAN105 may be defined as an R1 reference point that implements the IEEE802.16 specification. In addition, each of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, and102 c may establish a logical interface (not shown) with the corenetwork 109. The logical interface between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 cand the core network 109 may be defined as an R2 reference point, whichmay be used for authentication, authorization, IP host configurationmanagement, and/or mobility management.

The communication link between each of the base stations 180 a, 180 b,and 180 c may be defined as an R8 reference point that includesprotocols for facilitating WTRU handovers and the transfer of databetween base stations. The communication link between the base stations180 a, 180 b, 180 c and the ASN gateway 182 may be defined as an R6reference point. The R6 reference point may include protocols forfacilitating mobility management based on mobility events associatedwith each of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c.

As shown in FIG. 1E, the RAN 105 may be connected to the core network109. The communication link between the RAN 105 and the core network 109may defined as an R3 reference point that includes protocols forfacilitating data transfer and mobility management capabilities, forexample. The core network 109 may include a mobile IP home agent(MIP-HA) 184, an authentication, authorization, accounting (AAA) server186, and a gateway 188. While each of the foregoing elements aredepicted as part of the core network 109, it will be appreciated thatany one of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entityother than the core network operator.

The MIP-HA may be responsible for IP address management, and may enablethe WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, and 102 c to roam between different ASNs and/ordifferent core networks. The MIP-HA 184 may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102b, 102 c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 cand IP-enabled devices. The AAA server 186 may be responsible for userauthentication and for supporting user services. The gateway 188 mayfacilitate interworking with other networks. For example, the gateway188 may provide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c with access tocircuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitatecommunications between the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c and traditionalland-line communications devices. In addition, the gateway 188 mayprovide the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 c with access to the networks 112,which may include other wired or wireless networks that are owned and/oroperated by other service providers.

Although not shown in FIG. 1E, it will be appreciated that the RAN 105may be connected to other ASNs and the core network 109 may be connectedto other core networks. The communication link between the RAN 105 theother ASNs may be defined as an R4 reference point, which may includeprotocols for coordinating the mobility of the WTRUs 102 a, 102 b, 102 cbetween the RAN 105 and the other ASNs. The communication link betweenthe core network 109 and the other core networks may be defined as an R5reference, which may include protocols for facilitating interworkingbetween home core networks and visited core networks.

The core network entities described herein and illustrated in FIGS. 1A,1C, 1D, and 1E are identified by the names given to those entities incertain existing 3GPP specifications, but it is understood that in thefuture those entities and functionalities may be identified by othernames and certain entities or functions may be combined in futurespecifications published by 3GPP, including future 3GPP NRspecifications. Thus, the particular network entities andfunctionalities described and illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and1E are provided by way of example only, and it is understood that thesubject matter disclosed and claimed herein may be embodied orimplemented in any similar communication system, whether presentlydefined or defined in the future.

FIG. 1F is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system 90 in whichone or more apparatuses of the communications networks illustrated inFIGS. 1A, 1C, 1D and 1E may be embodied, such as certain nodes orfunctional entities in the RAN 103/104/105, Core Network 106/107/109,PSTN 108, Internet 110, or Other Networks 112. Computing system 90 maycomprise a computer or server and may be controlled primarily bycomputer readable instructions, which may be in the form of software,wherever, or by whatever means such software is stored or accessed. Suchcomputer readable instructions may be executed within a processor 91, tocause computing system 90 to do work. The processor 91 may be a generalpurpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventionalprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSPcore, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific IntegratedCircuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs) circuits, anyother type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like.The processor 91 may perform signal coding, data processing, powercontrol, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality thatenables the computing system 90 to operate in a communications network.Coprocessor 81 is an optional processor, distinct from main processor91, that may perform additional functions or assist processor 91.Processor 91 and/or coprocessor 81 may receive, generate, and processdata related to the methods and apparatuses disclosed herein.

In operation, processor 91 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions,and transfers information to and from other resources via the computingsystem's main data-transfer path, system bus 80. Such a system busconnects the components in computing system 90 and defines the mediumfor data exchange. System bus 80 typically includes data lines forsending data, address lines for sending addresses, and control lines forsending interrupts and for operating the system bus. An example of sucha system bus 80 is the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus.

Memories coupled to system bus 80 include random access memory (RAM) 82and read only memory (ROM) 93. Such memories include circuitry thatallows information to be stored and retrieved. ROMs 93 generally containstored data that cannot easily be modified. Data stored in RAM 82 can beread or changed by processor 91 or other hardware devices. Access to RAM82 and/or ROM 93 may be controlled by memory controller 92. Memorycontroller 92 may provide an address translation function thattranslates virtual addresses into physical addresses as instructions areexecuted. Memory controller 92 may also provide a memory protectionfunction that isolates processes within the system and isolates systemprocesses from user processes. Thus, a program running in a first modecan access only memory mapped by its own process virtual address space;it cannot access memory within another process's virtual address spaceunless memory sharing between the processes has been set up.

In addition, computing system 90 may contain peripherals controller 83responsible for communicating instructions from processor 91 toperipherals, such as printer 94, keyboard 84, mouse 95, and disk drive85.

Display 86, which is controlled by display controller 96, is used todisplay visual output generated by computing system 90. Such visualoutput may include text, graphics, animated graphics, and video. Thevisual output may be provided in the form of a graphical user interface(GUI). One example of the GUI is shown in FIG. 25. Display 86 may beimplemented with a CRT-based video display, an LCD-based flat-paneldisplay, gas plasma-based flat-panel display, or a touch-panel. Displaycontroller 96 includes electronic components required to generate avideo signal that is sent to display 86.

Further, computing system 90 may contain communication circuitry, suchas for example a network adapter 97, that may be used to connectcomputing system 90 to an external communications network, such as theRAN 103/104/105, Core Network 106/107/109, PSTN 108, Internet 110, orOther Networks 112 of FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E, to enable thecomputing system 90 to communicate with other nodes or functionalentities of those networks. The communication circuitry, alone or incombination with the processor 91, may be used to perform thetransmitting and receiving steps of certain apparatuses, nodes, orfunctional entities described herein.

It is understood that any or all of the apparatuses, systems, methodsand processes described herein may be embodied in the form of computerexecutable instructions (e.g., program code) stored on acomputer-readable storage medium which instructions, when executed by aprocessor, such as processors 118 or 91, cause the processor to performand/or implement the systems, methods and processes described herein.Specifically, any of the steps, operations or functions described hereinmay be implemented in the form of such computer executable instructions,executing on the processor of an apparatus or computing systemconfigured for wireless and/or wired network communications. Computerreadable storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any non-transitory (e.g., tangible orphysical) method or technology for storage of information, but suchcomputer readable storage media do not includes signals. Computerreadable storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or any other tangible or physical medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by a computing system.

New Radio Requirements

According to an embodiment, 3GPP TR 38.913 defines scenarios andrequirements for NR technologies. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)for eMBB, URLLC and mMTC devices are summarized in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Device KPI Description Requirement eMBB Peak data rate Peak datarate is the highest theoretical data rate which is 20 Gbps for thereceived data bits assuming error-free conditions downlink andassignable to a single mobile station, when all assignable 10 Gbps forradio resources for the corresponding link direction are uplink utilized(i.e., excluding radio resources that are used for physical layersynchronization, reference signals or pilots, guard bands and guardtimes). Mobility Mobility interruption time means the shortest time 0 msfor intra- interruption duration supported by the system during which auser system time terminal cannot exchange user plane packets with anymobility base station during transitions. Data Plane For eMBB value, theevaluation needs to consider all 4 ms for UL, Latency typical delaysassociated with the transfer of the data and 4 ms for packets in anefficient way (e.g. applicable DL procedural delay when resources arenot pre- allocated, averaged HARQ retransmission delay, impacts ofnetwork architecture). URLLC Control Plane Control plane latency refersto the time to move from 10 ms Latency a battery efficient state (e.g.,IDLE) to start of continuous data transfer (e.g., ACTIVE). Data PlaneFor URLLC the target for user plane latency for UL and 0.5 ms LatencyDL. Furthermore, if possible, the latency should also be low enough tosupport the use of the next generation access technologies as a wirelesstransport technology that can be used within the next generation accessarchitecture. Reliability Reliability can be evaluated by the success1-10-5 probability of transmitting X bytes (1) within 1 ms, within 1 ms.which is the time it takes to deliver a small data packet from the radioprotocol layer 2/3 SDU ingress point to the radio protocol layer 2/3 SDUpoint of the radio interface, at a certain channel quality (e.g.,coverage-edge). NOTE1: Specific value for X is FFS. mMTC Coverage“Maximum coupling loss” (MCL) in uplink and downlink 164 dB betweendevice and Base Station site (antenna connector(s)) for a data rate of[X bps], where the data rate is observed at the egress/ingress point ofthe radio protocol stack in uplink and downlink. UE Battery UserEquipment (UE) battery life can be evaluated 15 years Life by thebattery life of the UE without recharge. For mMTC, UE battery life inextreme coverage shall be based on the activity of mobile originateddata transfer consisting of [200 bytes] Uplink (UL) per day followed by[20 bytes] Downlink (DL) from Maximum Coupling Loss (MCL) of dB,assuming a stored energy capacity of [5 Wh]. Connection Connectiondensity refers to total number of devices 106 devices/km2 Densityfulfilling specific Quality of Service (QoS) per unit area (per km2).QoS definition should take into account the amount of data or accessrequest generated within a time t_gen that can be sent or receivedwithin a given time, t_sendrx, with x % probability.

NR Beamformed Access

Currently, 3GPP standardization's efforts are underway to design theframework for beamformed access. The characteristics of the wirelesschannel at higher frequencies are significantly different from the sub-6GHz channel that LTE is currently deployed on. The key challenge ofdesigning the new Radio Access Technology (RAT) for higher frequencieswill be in overcoming the larger path-loss at higher frequency bands. Inaddition to this larger path-loss, the higher frequencies are subject tounfavorable scattering environment due to blockage caused by poordiffraction. Therefore, MIMO/beamforming is essential in guaranteeingsufficient signal level at the receiver end.

Relying solely on MIMO digital precoding used by digital BF tocompensate for the additional path-loss in higher frequencies seems notenough to provide similar coverage as below 6 GHz. Thus, the use ofanalog beamforming for achieving additional gain can be an alternativein conjunction with digital beamforming. A sufficiently narrow beamshould be formed with many antenna elements. This is likely to be quitedifferent from the one assumed for the LTE evaluations. For largebeamforming gain, the beam-width correspondingly tends to be reduced,and hence the beam with the large directional antenna gain cannot coverthe whole horizontal sector area specifically in a 3-sectorconfiguration. The limiting factors of the number of concurrent highgain beams include the cost and complexity of the transceiverarchitecture.

From these observations above, multiple transmissions in time domainwith narrow coverage beams steered to cover different serving areas arenecessary. Inherently, the analog beam of a subarray can be steeredtoward a single direction at the time resolution of an OFDM symbol or atany appropriate time interval unit defined for beam steering acrossdifferent serving areas within the cell. The number of subarraysdetermines the number of beam directions and the corresponding coverageon each OFDM symbol or time interval unit defined for the purpose ofbeams steering. The provision of multiple narrow coverage beams has beencalled “beam sweeping.” This concept is illustrated in FIG. 2 where thecoverage of a sector level cell is achieved with sectors beams andmultiple high gain narrow beams. Also, for analog and hybrid beamformingwith massive MIMO, multiple transmissions in the time domain with narrowcoverage beams steered to cover different serving areas is essential tocover the whole coverage areas within a serving cell in NR.

One concept closely related to beam sweeping is beam pairing. Beampairing is used to select the best beam pair between a UE and itsserving cell. The best beam pair can be used for control signaling ordata transmission. For the downlink transmission, a beam pair willconsist of UE RX beam and gNB TX beam. And, for uplink transmission, abeam pair will consist of UE TX beam and gNB RX beam.

Another related concept is beam training. Beam training is used for beamrefinement. For example, a coarser sector beamforming may be appliedduring the beam sweeping and sector beam pairing procedure asillustrated in FIG. 2. Beam training may then follow where the antennaweights vector are refined. And, this can be followed by the pairing ofhigh gain narrow beams between the UE and gNB.

DL Synchronization in LTE/LTE-A

In one aspect, in current 3GPP LTE/LTE-A systems, two specially designedphysical signals are broadcasted in each cell. These signals include thePrimary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and the Secondary SynchronizationSignal (SSS). The detection of these two signals not only enables timeand frequency synchronization, but also provides the UE with thephysical layer identity of the cell and the cyclic prefix length. In thecase of initial synchronization, in addition to the detection ofsynchronization signals, the UE proceeds to decode the PhysicalBroadcast Channel (PBCH) including critical system information such assystem bandwidth, PHICH information and SFN.

Initial Access Burst

In an aspect of the disclosure, NR systems supporting both single beam(or single sector) and a multi-beam (multi-sectors) approach for initialaccess signal transmission is described. This is illustrated in FIGS. 5Aand 5B. The initial access signal includes DL synchronization channels,i.e., PSS/SSS and PBCH channel. A SS beam sweeping block is defined as abeam sweeping time unit for broadcasting PSS/SSS and PBCH. Each sweepingblock may include one or more CP-OFDM symbols. Multiple blocks can forma beam sweeping burst. Here, the length of a SS sweeping burst refers tothe number of beam sweeping blocks in a burst. For example, if a beamsweeping burst length is equal to M, then there are M sweeping blocks ina burst.

The DL beam-sweeping burst may periodically transmit at a period. Thisperiodic T may be varied with different applications including URLLC,mMTC or eMBB services. T may also be varied with different frequencybands (or frequency ranges), numerology, and traffic/mobility profile ofUE. The SS burst design can be varied with FDD, TDD, flexible subframeand numerology. If DL and UL transmissions occur at different frequencybands, i.e., FDD, the SS burst design can be across contiguous subframeswithout reserving UL transmissions. Hence, it can accommodate more SSblocks in a subframe than TDD. However, DL symbols in a slot or subframemay be reserved for gcPDCCH or UE-specific PDCCH transmissions.Therefore, non-contiguous SS bursts between continuous subframes can besupported in FDD.

On the other hand, for TDD, UL subframe transmissions may be reserved ina radio frame. The SS burst design has to support non-contiguous SSbursts between continuous subframes as well. The SS burst design in TDDalso supports a various number of DL-UL subframes in a radio frames. Forflexible subframe structures, it supports DL and UL transmission symbolsin a subframe. Hence, SS burst designs can support a non-contiguous SSburst block.

UE Initial Access Operations

In yet another aspect of the disclosure, after the UE successfullyacquires the timing and frequency information from the PSS and SSS, andobtains the MIB/SIB in PBCH, the UE will start to perform Tx beamsweeping and DL Tx beam feedback. The uplink channels used by the UE forTx beam sweeping and DL Tx beam feedback should be implicitlysignaled/mapped from the acquired PSS/SSS (beam ID) and/or PBCH directsignaling.

There are several techniques envisaged in this application for implicitor explicit signaling/mapping of UL channels to perform Tx beam sweepingand DL Tx beam feedback. NR-PRACH is one example of such a UL channel.Here, the PRACH illustrates the mapping/signaling. The PRACH resourcesused for Tx sweeping at an initial access stage may be fixed perfrequency band or semi-statically configured by the gNB. For the lattercase, PRACH resource information needs to be signaled in MIB oressential SIB (such as SIB1, SIB2 in LTE). In NR systems, MIB can betransmitted on PBCH and essential SIB can be transmitted on thesecondary PBCH (denoted as SPBCH).

In one embodiment of this aspect, one set of PRACH resources (in termsof time and frequency) is exclusively configured/mapped for each SSblock (corresponding to one beam swept in the DL for initial access).All preambles configured in a PRACH signaled MIB/essential SIB(transmitted by PBCH or SPBCH) can be used for UEs that successfullyacquire this beam in PSS/SSS.

In another embodiment of this aspect, one set of PRACH resources (interms of time and frequency) is exclusively configured/mapped for agroup of SS blocks (corresponding to several beams swept in the DL forinitial access). For example, the group can be a SS block transmitted inthe same sub-frame. Any UE that successfully acquires a beam swept inthis group of SS blocks can transmit on this set of PRACH resources. Asubset of PRACH preambles are mapped for each SS block (corresponding toone beam swept in the DL). A UE that successfully acquires a beam in theSS block can transmit PRACH using one of the preambles in the subsetmapped to the SS block. Subsets of preambles for different SS blocks arenon-overlapping. This will help the gNB detect the index of the DL Txbeam that was acquired by a particular UE. An example of UE uplinkchannels performing beam sweeping and DL Tx beam feedback to acquire theSS block in a FDD frame structure is illustrated in FIG. 6.

The following UE procedures are performed for beamforming based initialaccess. In the PSS detection stage, the UE performs the following steps:(i) Cross-correlate received signal with the Q possible PSS sequences,where Q is the maximum number of PSS sequences that can be supported;(ii) Store the cross-correlate result into various accumulation buffersaccording to the various PSS broadcast periodicity, respectively; and(iii) Choose the strongest peak from the accumulation buffers; and (iv)obtain the corresponding partial cell ID (say, N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾) with itscorresponding root sequence u.

The time relative position of the correlation peak gives the time offsetto the waveform symbol to begin SSS detection. In SSS detection stage,the UE performs the following steps: (i) Cross-correlate received signalwith the P possible SSS sequences; (ii) Store the cross-correlate resultinto various accumulation buffers according to the various SSS broadcastperiodic, respectively; (iii) Choose the strongest peak and obtain thecorresponding partial cell ID (say, N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾; and (iv) Calculate cellID N_(ID) ^(cell) using N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾ and N_(ID) ⁽²⁾.

In the SS (PSS/SSS) detection stage, the UE may obtain the beam IDeither from the SS or from beam reference signals (BRS). The UE canunderstand which DL beam sweeping block is detected. The US is also ableto calculate the timing offset from the detected beam sweeping block andthe DL sweeping subframe. Ultimately, the UE can determine whether thebeam (identified by the beam ID) is gNB's best DL Tx beam for the UE.

According to yet another embodiment, after the UE successfully detectsSS (PSS/SSS) and acquires timing and frequency, it will obtain thetiming information of the next PBCH. The evaluated information includesand is not limited to: (a) Timing of acquired SS (PSS/SSS) symbols(within the sub-frame); (b) Fixed timing of between SS (PSS/SSS) symbolsand PBCH symbols; and (c) Periodicity of SS burst, periodicity of SS(PSS/SSS) symbols and periodicity of PBCH.

Depending on the relative periodicities of SS (PSS/SSS) symbols andPBCH, the UE may need to perform blind detection to decode PBCH. ThePBCH contains the MIB information elements such as DL Bandwidth and SFN(partial bits). The PBCH may also carry other information such asscheduling of SPBCH or information of UL channels (for example, PRACH)that can be used by the UE to perform its UL Tx beam sweeping andfeedback of DL Tx beam acquired in SS.

According to another embodiment, after detection of PBCH, the UE maydetect the SPBCH by obtaining the timing of the next PBCH according tothe following information: (a) Timing of acquired SS (PSS/SSS) symbols(within the sub-frame); and (b) Fixed timing between SS (PSS/SSS)symbols, PBCH symbols and SPBCH symbols; (c) Periodicity of SS burst,periodicity of SS (PSS/SSS) symbols, periodicity of PBCH, andperiodicity of SPBCH. Depending on the relative periodicities of SS(PSS/SSS) symbols, PBCH and SPBCH and the timing resolution of SFNcarried in PBCH, the UE may perform blind detection to decode SPBCH. TheSPBCH includes essential SIB information for the UE to further accessthe networks. Such information may include and is not limited toinformation of UL channels (for example, PRACH) that can be used by theUE to perform its UL Tx beam sweeping and feedback of DL Tx beamacquired in SS.

Beam Link Pairing at Initial Access

According to another aspect of the disclosure, PRACH is employed toillustrate the proposed solutions assuming gNB and UE's UL and DLbeamforming are reciprocal. After the UE has successfully acquired SS,PBCH and SPBCH, it can obtain the following information based onimplicit signaling/mapping of SS (PSS/SS), beam ID, and scheduling andPRACH information from PBCH and/or SPBCH: (i) The set of PRACH resources(in terms of time and frequency) for it to use in Tx beam sweeping andfeedback of DL Tx beam; and (ii) The set of PRACH preambles for it touse (determined/mapped by the beam ID it acquired).

FIG. 7 provides an exemplary illustration of a UE uplink channel toperform beam sweeping and DL Tx beam feedback linked to acquire a SSblock in a flexible frame structure. In one embodiment, the followingprocedures are performed for beam link pairing at initial access. InStep 1 of this embodiment, the UE performs its Tx beam sweeping andfeedback of DL Tx beam using PRACH preambles on the determined PRACHresources according to PRACH resources and preamble mapping rules. Inthis way, the feedback of the DL Tx beam for this UE is implicitlysignaled by its PRACH transmission.

There are two methods to signal the beam ID of UE's UL Tx beam. Onemethod is explicit signaling and the other is implicit signaling. Thesewill be discussed below in more detail. But first, the UE will transmita series of PRACH preambles sweeping through a set of potential UL Txbeams (or all Tx beams). Such a series of PRACH transmission instances(symbol, mini-slot, slot or subframe) sweeping through a set ofpotential UL Tx beams is called one UL Tx Sweeping (TS) burst.

In explicit signaling, the PRACH used for UL Tx beam sweeping at theinitial access stage consists of two parts—the preamble part and thesubsequent message part. The UL Tx beam ID is explicitly signaled on themessage part. Here the RA-RNTI can have the same formula as in LTE butwith extended parameter ranges. RA-RNTI=RA-RNTI=1+t_id+10*f_id, wheret_id is the index of the 1^(st) PRACH transmission instance (i.e., asymbol, a slot, a mini-slot or subframe) of the specified PRACHresources set (0≤t_id <max_PRACH_resources_time_index). f_id is theindex of the specified PRACH within that PRACH transmission instance, inascending order of frequency domain(0≤f_id<max_PRACH_resources_frequency_index).

Separately, implicit signaling can be achieved by UE maintaining arecord of preamble transmitted and beam used on each PRACH transmissionduring its UL Tx beam sweeping. That is, the UE records the database{Preamble Index, UL Beam ID, t_id, f_id} of each beam sweeping usingPRACH. The method also needs to re-define the RA-RNTI as a function oftid, f_id and beam ID, where t_id is the index of the first PRACHtransmission instance (could be a symbol, a slot, a mini-slot orsubframe) of the specified PRACH resources set (0≤t_id<max_PRACH_resources_time_index). f_id is the index of the specifiedPRACH within that PRACH transmission instance, in ascending order offrequency domain (0≤f_id<max_PRACH_resources_frequency_index).

The gNB may detect several RACH preambles transmitted by the UE atdifferent PRACH transmission instances within a TS burst. Unlike otherRACH procedures where a Random Access Response (RAR) is generated foreach detected RACH preamble, in UE initial access Tx beam sweeping, thegNB will pick the best preamble (and corresponding beam) within the TSburst and generate only one RAR for it. The criteria of picking the bestpreamble (and corresponding beam) includes and not limited to selectingthe peak received power and SINR.

In Step 2 of this embodiment, the UE monitors the DL on the same DL Txbeam that it acquired during SS (PSS/SSS) detection for (RARs). In otherwords, during the RAR window, the UE monitors the NR-PDCCH for RARsidentified with RA-RNTIs corresponding to UE's PRACH transmission. Thelength of the RAR window will be selected to be long enough to cover theTS burst plus some margin.

The RAR includes an UL grant. The RAR may also include the UE's UL TxBeam ID feedback. If explicit signaling of the beam ID (method 1) isused in Step 1 of RACH procedures, then RAR will carry UE's UL Tx BeamID feedback explicitly. If UE's preamble transmission does notexplicitly carry its UL Tx beam ID (used in UL Tx beam sweeping), thengNB will use the re-defined RA-RNTI. Either way, the beam link pair(BPL) between the UE and gNB at the initial access is established atthis step.

In Step 3 of this embodiment, upon receiving a valid RAR with matchedRA-RNTI, the UE will transmit the Msg3 (carrying a RRCConnectionRequestor similar message) according to the UL grant received in the RAR. TheBPL determined in Step 2 should be used for beamforming transmission inStep 3. Last, in Step 4, the gNB may perform contention resolution ifmultiple UEs transmit the same Msg3 in step 3. The BPL determined inStep 2 should be used for beamforming transmission in Step 4 as well.

Beam Training and Mobility Management

According to yet even a further aspect of the disclosure, once the RRCConnection is established for a UE, the UE is able to have the followingconfigurations of channel and RS resources:

(i) Resource allocation configuration for UL control (PUCCH)transmission;

(ii) Resource allocation, ports, sequence configuration and transmissionperiod for (group) CSI-RS (or beam RS);

(iii) Resource allocation, ports and DMRS configuration for group commonPDCCH;

(iv) Resource allocation, ports and DMRS configuration for UE-specificPDCCH; and

(v) Resource allocation, ports and DMRS configuration for UE-specificPDSCH.

In order to maintain good BPL quality between the UE and gNB, thenetwork can allocate and configure multiple sets of CSI-RS for the UE toperform (periodic or aperiodic) a beam link pairing maintenanceoperation. This may include a CSI-RS configuration for a UE (i.e.,UE-specific) or for a group of UEs (i.e., group-common). Further, thenetwork will configure NR-PUCCHs for the UE or the group of UEs totransmit their beam report feedback.

The UE will measure the configured CSI-RS and transmit the beam reportfeedback to the gNB according the feedback configuration (aperiodic,periodic or event-triggered). For an event-triggered beam reportfeedback, one criteria is that the UE measure the current BPL quality.This is at least based upon the DM-RS in its received NR-PDCCH,NR-PDSCH. If it is below a predefined threshold, it will report themonitored beam report/quality to the gNB. The beam report format can bethe best beam or Q best beams. The feedback information can include beamID and quantized RSRP or SINR (optional).

Once the gNB receive the feedback of beam IDs from UE, the gNB willcompare the beam report with a current DL Tx beam used for the UE anddecide whether to switch beams for DL. If the gNB decides to switch a DLTx beam, it will transmit a special NR-PDCCH which contains an UL grantand allocates UL channels for the UE to perform UL Tx beam sweeping anda “beam switching command/indicator.” The UE will start UL Tx beamsweeping on the allocated UL channels. After the gNB selects the UE'sbest UL Tx beam and feedbacks it to the UE, a new BPL is determined andwill be used in subsequent control and data transmissions between the UEand the gNB. The configured (group) CSI-RS can be used for group commonPDCCH DMRS to save RS overhead.

Beam Quality Indication Report and Connected Mode DRX

In even a further aspect of the disclosure, such as for example in FIG.8, the UE feedback reporting cycle can operate with the connected-modeDRX cycle. The BQI (Beam Quality Indicator) mask protocol informationelement (IE) is introduced. This IE BQI-mask limits beam quality reportsto the ‘on’ duration period of the DRX cycle. If the IE BQI-mask is notsetup by RRC, the BQIs and beam IDs (BID) on NR-PUCCH are not reportedwhen inactive. Otherwise the UE sends BQIs and BIDs on PUCCH only ifonDurationTimer is running.

In one embodiment, the UE can perform beam measurement based onconfigured CSI-RS while onDurationTimer is running and send feedback viaNR-PUCCH to gNB. Once the gNB receives the feedback of beam IDs from theUE, the gNB will compare the beam report with the current DL Tx beamused for the UE and decide whether to switch DL beam. If the gNB decidesto switch DL Tx beam, it will transmit a special NR-PDCCH to indicate“beam switching command/indicator” and whether it needs to perform UL Txbeam sweeping.

After beam switching, if the UE is able to successfully decode theNR-PDCCH and/or NR-PDSCH, the UE can assume a new BPL has beenestablished. Otherwise, if UE is able to decode NR-PDCCH but fails todecode NR-PDSCH, the UE might need to feedback A/N with BQIs and BIDs togNB in NR-PUCCH. If there are no reserved NR-PUCCH resources, the UE canuse NR-PRACH for UE feedback. If UE is unable to decode PDCCH, the UEmight be able to trigger the link-failure procedure for the beamrecovery.

As expressly shown in FIG. 8, the gNB configures five training beams fora UE via CSI-RS or beam training RS. After a measurement period, the UEcan feedback the beam IDs (i.e., beam ID 1 to 5) and beam qualityindicator to gNB via NR-PUCCH. The reporting timing of the beam ID andbeam quality can be regularized by a timer. Once the gNB receives thebeam quality feedback from the UE, the gNB can send the beam switchingcommand to indicate the UE is switching to a new beam for the nextNR-PDSCH reception. The beam paring link (BPL) switching time can bedefined to span from the time the NR-PUCCH carries the beam ID to thenext NR-PDCCH carrying beam switching command.

Beam Pair Link Based UL Power Control

In NR, directional antenna gain with narrow beams contributessignificantly to the signal path loss calculation. Currently in LTE, theUL path loss is estimated based on the received reference signal poweron the DL as shown below as an example:

$\begin{matrix}{{P_{{PUSCH},c}(i)} = {\min \begin{Bmatrix}{{P_{{CMAX},c}(i)},} \\\begin{matrix}{{10\; {\log_{10}\left( {M_{{PUSCH},c}(i)} \right)}} + {P_{{O\_ PUSCH},c}(j)} +} \\{{{\alpha_{c}(j)} \cdot {PL}_{c}} + {\Delta_{{TF},c}(i)} + {f_{c}(i)}}\end{matrix}\end{Bmatrix}\mspace{14mu} ({dBm})}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where PL_(C) is the DL path loss estimate calculated in the UE forserving cell c in dB and PL_(C)=referenceSignalPower−higher layerfiltered RSRP, which is applied to the power control to all the UL beamsper serving cell.

Since the DL beam pair link gain may significantly differ from themeasurements with different reference signals, and from the UL beam pairlink gain due to directional narrow beam antenna gain differences, itbecome necessary to include the Beam Pair Link Gain Difference, Δ_(bpl),in the UL power control equation (1) above:

Δ_(bpl)=DL beam pair gain−UL beam pair gain.

Therefore, the UL transmit power may be adjusted with the Beam Pair LinkGain DifferenceΔ_(bpl) for each beam in equation (2) below as anexample:

$\begin{matrix}{{P_{{PUSCH},c}(i)} = {\min \begin{Bmatrix}{{P_{{CMAX},c}(i)},} \\\begin{matrix}{{10\; {\log_{10}\left( {M_{{PUSCH},c}(i)} \right)}} + {P_{{O\_ PUSCH},c}(j)} +} \\{{{\alpha_{c}(j)} \cdot {PL}_{c}} + {\Delta \; {bpl}} + {\Delta_{{TF},c}(i)} + {f_{c}(i)}}\end{matrix}\end{Bmatrix}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

Beam Pair Link Gain Difference Δ_(bpl) for each beam may be calculatedbased on UE's DL path loss measurement L_(DLpath) with a specific DLreference signal, configured or selected during beam selection or beampairing, and TRP or gNB's UL path loss measurement L_(ULpath) or ULpower adjustment U_(Ladj) calculated by gNB in the following equations,

Δ_(bpl) =L _(ULpath) −L _(DLpath),

Δ_(bpl) ⁼UL_(adj).

Beam Pair Link Gain Difference Δ_(bpl) for each beam may also be derivedfrom gNB's Transmit Power Control (TPC) bit:

Δ_(bpl)=TPC×Δ_(adj),

Where “TPC=1” for increasing power and “−1” for decreasing power, “0”for no change, and Δ_(adj) is the power adjustment either preconfigured,indicated in SI, or signaled to UE via RRC, MAC CE or DL DCI.

FIG. 9 exemplarily illustrates a decision tree for estimating the BeamPair Link Gain Difference (BPLGD) Δ_(bpl). In step 901, a calculation ofthe Beam Pair Link Gain Difference Δ_(bpl) is based upon the selectedbeam pair during DL and/or UL beam training/pairing which is based onthe measurements on the specific reference signal carried on theselected beam pair. In step 902, an update of the UL transmit powercalculation with Δ_(bpl) is performed. In step 903, a query is made forbeam adjustment/recovering/switching. If No, the decision tree proceedsto an instance between steps 902 and 903. If Yes, the decision treeproceeds to step 904. Step 904 recalculates the Beam Pair Link GainDifference Δ_(bpl) of the adjusted or new beam pair from beam recoveringor switching if there is no calibrated Δ_(bpl) available for theadjusted or new beam pair. Next in step 905, an update is made to the ULtransmit power calculation for the adjusted or switched new beam pairwith the Δ_(bpl) related to the adjusted or new beam pair calculated orstored.

According to another embodiment, FIGS. 10A/B and 11A/B illustratedetailed examples of estimating the beam pair link gain differenceΔ_(bpl). Specifically, FIGS. 10A-10B estimate beam pair link gaindifference during downlink beam training or pairing.

As shown in FIG. 10A, multiple DL beams carrying DL reference signal,DL_RS, are swept from the TRP or gNB at step 1A, and at step 1B, a UEselects a best beam based on the measurements of the DL reference signalDL_RS_m, such as PSS/SSS in SSB burst or periodic CSI-RS, carried on theDL beam DLTX_m, and then the DL path loss is calculated with theReference Signal Received Power (RSRP) or Received Signal StrengthIndicator (RSSI) or Channel Quality Indicator (QCI) measured withDL_RS_m, as an example: L_(DLpath)=referenceSignalPower−RSRP DL_RS_m. Atstep 2, the UE reports the best beam DLTX_m to the TRP or gNB. At step3, the TRP or gNB calculates the UL path loss or UL transmit poweradjustment based on the measurement of the received reference signal,e.g., RSRP of UL-RS such as sound reference signal (SRS) on UL. At step4B, the UE may make adjustment with the Beam Pair Link Gain Δ_(bpl) toits UL power control based on the path loss estimation with DL_RS_m, aswell as L_(ULpath) (calculated UL path loss), UL_(adj) (UL power controladjustment), or TPC (UL power control command, i.e. increasing ordecreasing the UL power) feedback from the TRP or gNB. This Δ_(bpl) isrelated to the selected DL_RS_M and the beam pair selected and can beused hereafter for adjust the UL transmit power for the associated beampair.

In FIG. 10B, at step 5, the UE reports the best beam pair DLTXRX_m tothe TRP or gNB. At step 6, the TRP or gNB calculates the UL path loss orUL transmit power adjustment based on the measurement of the receivedreference signal, e.g., RSRP of UL-RS such as SRS on UL. At step 7, theUE receives a confirmed beam pair DLTXRX_m user a finer beam DLTX_m. Atstep 8, the UE fine tunes the DLRx_m. In this step, the UE performs DLmeasurements. It recalculates Δ_(bpl) for the beam pair DLTXRX_m basedon the measured L_(DLpath) and received L_(ULpath)/L_(adj)/TPC. Next,the UE fine tunes the DLRX_m and adjusts the UL transmit poweraccordingly. Last, the UE starts the UL fine beam training. The Δ_(bpl)is related to the selected DL_RS_M and the beam pair selected and can beused hereafter for adjust the UL transmit power for the associated beampair.

FIGS. 11A and 11B as a whole estimate beam pair link gain differenceduring uplink beam training or pairing. In FIG. 11A, at step 1A, a UEsends UL beams with the initial power setting related to the UL RS n,such as SRS (n), carried on ULTx_n. At step 3, the UE may make anadjustment with the Beam Pair Link Gain Δ_(bpl) its UL power controlbased on the path loss estimation with DL_RS_n carried on selected bestbeam ULTx_n, as well as L_(ULpath) (calculated UL path loss), UL_(adj)(UL power control adjustment), or TPC (UL power control command, i.e.increasing or decreasing the UL power) feedback from the TRP or gNB. Atstep 4A, the UE confirms the best beam ULTx_n and starts UL Rx selectionwith ULTX_n. The Δ_(bpl) is related to the selected DL_RS_n and the beampair selected and can be used hereafter for adjust the UL transmit powerfor the associated beam pair.

In FIG. 11B, at step 5, the UE receives a report of the best beam pairULTxRX_n. At step 6, the UE fine tunes the ULTx_n. In this step, the UEperforms DL measurements. It recalculates Δ_(bpl) for the beam pairbased on the measured LD_(Lpath) and received L_(ULpath)/L_(adj)/TPC.Next, the UE fine tunes the ULTx_n and decides channel reciprocity. Atstep 7, the UE confirms the beam pair ULTxRx_n using finer beam ULTx_n.The Δ_(bpl) is related to the selected DL_RS_n and the beam pairselected and can be used hereafter for adjust the UL transmit power forthe associated beam pair.

According to a further embodiment, FIG. 12 provides an exemplary userGUI for beam pair link measurements. The beam pair link measurements maybe displayed in either text and/or graph form. This may be used to helpa user to operate the handheld device properly and avoid unnecessaryblockage at very high frequencies, such as at the mmWave frequency band.

According to the present application, it is understood that any or allof the systems, methods and processes described herein may be embodiedin the form of computer executable instructions, e.g., program code,stored on a computer-readable storage medium which instructions, whenexecuted by a machine, such as a computer, server, M2M terminal device,M2M gateway device, transit device or the like, perform and/or implementthe systems, methods and processes described herein. Specifically, anyof the steps, operations or functions described above may be implementedin the form of such computer executable instructions. Computer readablestorage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information, but such computer readable storage media do not includessignals. Computer readable storage media include, but are not limitedto, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD ROM,digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other physical medium which can be used to storethe desired information and which can be accessed by a computer.

According to yet another aspect of the application, a non-transitorycomputer-readable or executable storage medium for storingcomputer-readable or executable instructions is disclosed. The mediummay include one or more computer-executable instructions such asdisclosed above in the plural call flows. The computer executableinstructions may be stored in a memory and executed by a processordisclosed above in FIGS. 1C and 1F, and employed in devices including anode such as for example, end-user equipment. In particular, the UE asshown for example in FIGS. 1B and 1E is configured to perform theinstructions of beam link pairing the apparatus to the router in newradio. The instructions may include: (i) transmitting physical randomaccess channel (PRACH) preambles through a set of uplink transmissionbeams in a subframe; (ii) signaling a beam ID of the set of uplinktransmission beams; (iii) monitoring a physical downlink control channel(PDCCH) for a random access response (RAR) including a random accessradio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI); and (iv) determining theRA-RNTI corresponds to the transmitted PRACH preambles.

In yet another embodiment, the UE as shown for example in FIGS. 1B and1E is configured to perform the instructions of beam link adjustments inthe new radio. The instructions may include: (i) detecting downlinktransmission beams transmitted from a gNB; (ii) performing downlinkmeasurements with downlink reference signals on the detected downlinktransmission beams; (iii) selecting an first downlink transmission beambased on the measurement; (iv) calculating a downlink path loss using adownlink reference signal of the first downlink transmission beam; (v)estimating an initial uplink transmit power based on the calculateddownlink path loss; and vi) transmitting, to the gNB, an indication ofthe first downlink transmission beam with the estimated initial uplinktransmit power.

In yet a further embodiment, the UE as shown for example in FIGS. 1B and1E is configured to perform the instructions of beam link adjustments inthe new radio. The instructions may include: (i) sending, to the gNB,uplink transmission beams via uplink transmission beam sweeping with aninitial uplink transmit power; (ii) receiving, from the gNB, anindication of a first uplink transmission beam from the sent uplinktransmission beams, and an uplink path loss or uplink transmit poweradjustment information; (iii) calculating a beam pair link gaindifference based on a downlink path loss and the received uplink pathloss or uplink transmit power adjustment information; and (iv) adjustingthe initial uplink transmit power based upon the calculation

While the systems and methods have been described in terms of what arepresently considered to be specific aspects, the application need not belimited to the disclosed aspects. It is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures. The present disclosure includes any and all aspects of thefollowing claims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. An apparatus comprising: a non-transitory memoryincluding instructions stored thereon for beam link pairing theapparatus to a gNB in a new radio; and a processor, operably coupled tothe non-transitory memory, capable of executing the instructions of:receiving physical random access channel (PRACH) resource information inmaster information block (MIB) on physical broadcast channel (PBCH) orsystem information block (SIB) on secondary PBCH (SPBCH), the PRACHresource information being exclusively mapped for a group of synchronoussignal (SS) blocks, the SS blocks including a primary or secondarysynchronous sequence and the PBCH; and transmitting PRACH preamblesthrough a set of uplink transmission beams in a subframe including thegroup of SS blocks, the PRACH preambles being obtained from the PRACHresource information.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein theapparatus is further configured to: monitor a physical downlink controlchannel (PDCCH) for a random access response (RAR) including a randomaccess radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI); and determine theRA-RNTI corresponds to the transmitted PRACH preambles.
 23. Theapparatus of claim 21, wherein the PRACH preambles are obtained based onbeam ID associated with the group of SS blocks.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the primary or secondary synchronous sequence iscarried on a physical downlink control channel.
 25. The apparatus ofclaim 24, wherein the SS blocks and the set of uplink transmission beamsare separated by a gap.
 26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a set ofPRACH resources mapped to the SS blocks correspond to a beam in adownlink for initial access.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein thePRACH resources are semi-statically configured by the gNB.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 21, wherein the PRACH preambles include a preamblepart and a message part.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein a beamID is signaled in the message part.
 30. The apparatus of claim 21,wherein the PRACH preambles are swept through a set of potential uplinktransmission beams.
 31. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a randomaccess resource (RAR) includes an uplink transmission beam ID feedbackof the apparatus.
 32. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processoris further capable of: receiving a multiple set of channel referenceinformation reference signal (CSI-RS) configurations for the beam linkpairing; and transmitting a single beam report feedback according to themultiple set of CSI-RS configurations.
 33. The apparatus of claim 21,wherein the apparatus is a smartphone, wearable device, tablet orlaptop.
 34. An apparatus comprising: a non-transitory memory includinginstructions stored thereon for beam link pairing the apparatus to a UEin a new radio; and a processor, operably coupled to the non-transitorymemory, capable of executing the instructions of: transmitting physicalrandom access channel (PRACH) resource information in master informationblock (MIB) on physical broadcast channel (PBCH) or system informationblock (SIB) on secondary PBCH (SPBCH), the PRACH resource informationbeing exclusively mapped for a group of synchronous signal (SS) blocks,the SS blocks including a primary or secondary synchronous sequence andthe PBCH; and receiving PRACH preambles through a set of uplinktransmission beams in a subframe including the group of SS blocks, thePRACH preambles being obtained from the PRACH resource information. 35.A wireless communication method for beam link pairing with a UE, thewireless communication method comprising: transmitting physical randomaccess channel (PRACH) resource information in master information block(MIB) on physical broadcast channel (PBCH) or system information block(SIB) on secondary PBCH (SPBCH), the PRACH resource information beingexclusively mapped for a group of synchronous signal (SS) blocks, the SSblocks including a primary or secondary synchronous sequence and thePBCH; and receiving PRACH preambles through a set of uplink transmissionbeams in a subframe including the group of SS blocks, the PRACHpreambles being obtained from the PRACH resource information.